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Non-profits should provide decent work: Editorial

Ontario non-profit organizations are dedicated to helping others but too often are neglecting their own employees. It’s time they provided “decent work.”

Lisa Lalande is the author of a report that argues the not-for-profit sector should set an example by adopting a framework to reduce precarious work. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star)

Wed., Nov. 25, 2015

Many charities are dedicated to making life better for vulnerable people, but unfortunately that doesn’t always include their own employees. Despite growing concern for people trapped in “precarious work” — without job security, pensions or benefits — almost half of the 1 million staff employed by Ontario’s 55,000 non-profit organizations are serving part-time or on contract.

That’s according to a provocative new report by researchers at the Mowat Centre. They recommend that the province’s non-profit sector champion better working conditions and social policies – starting with its own employees. It’s a compelling argument.

“The tendency to prioritize clients’ needs over those of employees is deeply embedded in the sector’s culture,” write authors of the 44-page report. “The strength of the sector — its dedication to mission — may also serve as one of the barriers to decent work.”

About 28 per cent of the people employed by Ontario non-profits work part-time while another 6 per cent are full-time, but on contract. These groups are subject to significant “job insecurity” and have reduced access to pensions and benefits such as drug, vision or dental plans and life insurance.

Worse off are another 13 per cent of employees working part-time and on contract. Only 3 per cent are eligible for a workplace pension or other retirement income. Just 7 per cent receive benefits.

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This sector is also prone to underinvestment in training and development. Employees feel passionate about their mission, but there’s evidence of a “poor work-life balance for workers at all levels,” write authors of the report, produced with the support of the Atkinson Foundation.

There are some exceptions. For example, several non-profits in the Waterloo Region make a point of paying a living wage, meeting workers’ basic needs. But, overall, it’s ironic to find these organizations — many of which strive to ease poverty and boost the well-being of people in need — paying such scant attention to the vulnerability of their employees.

Non-profits aren’t solely at fault. Investments in “people, processes and technology” count as administrative costs. And government regulators, as well as donors, increasingly insist that such expenses be kept to a minimum.

“In recent years, the idea of an overall 20 per cent overhead ratio has become the norm in the broader not-for-profit sector,” says the report. That has given rise to “unrealistic expectations” when it comes to supporting employees and running more efficient operations.

It may be necessary for society to re-think how these organizations are funded. Rather than judging non-profits according to how much — or how little — they spend on administration, it would make more sense to give increased weight to factors such as cost-of-living pay increases and provision of living wages for staff.

Authors of the report suggest that non-profit organizations, donors and government officials come together to develop meaningful “new measures that take organizational transparency, governance, leadership, results and finances into account.” This makes a lot of sense.

Hundreds of thousands of workers’ lives could be made better if Ontario’s sizable non-profit sector were to dedicate itself to providing what the report calls “decent work.” Resulting benefits could reverberate even more broadly, providing “a major catalyst for a conversation about decent work and what it could mean for Canada,” concludes the study.

That’s worth trying. If only to extinguish a whiff of hypocrisy, Ontario’s non-profit sector should strive to do a better job of practising what it preaches.

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